Spear gun



Oct. 31, 1961 P. H. DE BACH 3,006,330

SPEAR GUN INVENTOR. /404. fl. 055467 United States Patent Qftice 3,086,330 Patented Get. 31, 1961 3,006,330 SPEAR GUN Paul H. De Bach, 4985 Chicago Ave, Riverside, Calif, assignor of one-third to Henry U. Meyer, Riverside, Calif.

Filed Oct. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 845,708 4 Claims. (Cl. 124-22) in order to load the gun the spear or shaft is inserted in the gun, the gun butt is held against the body, and then it is necessary for the user to pull back upon the rubber bands or springs by hand to connect the rubber bands or springs to the shaft or arrow. Generally, there is more than one slot in the arrow, so that the user has the opportunity of half loading or full loading the spear gun. However, it often occurs that a person is not strong enough to pull back upon the rubber bands hard enough to fully load the arrow, especially if rubber bands of superior strength are used. It is the object of this invention to overcome this difficulty and make the loading of such a spear gun very easy and simple and capable of being done by persons not having the muscular strength to fully load the conventional guns, while at the same time utilizing rubber bands of much greater than usual strength.

These and other objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the annexed specification in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective elevation of a spear gun embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial plan view of the cross-bar and associated mechanism.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the invention is illustrated as comprising the rod 18 at one end of which is a pistol grip trigger mechanism 11 having means for receiving and upon actuation of the trigger releasing a shaft or arrow 12 having a plurality of notches 13 and 14 therein. The rod carries a handle 15 and at its extreme outer end is provided with a bracket 16 having hole 17 forming another guide means for the arrow 12. All of the mechanism so far described is conventional.

In the conventional spear guns the rod 10 towards its outer end is provided with a cross-bar or bracket permanently afiixed thereto which carries the rubber bands. In the present invention the rod 10 carries a slidable sleeve 18 in which is mounted the cross-bar 19 which replaces the conventional cross-bar or bracket. To the cross-bar 19 are aifixed rubber bands 20 in the form of loops which engage rollers 21 carried by the yoke 22. Single strand rubber bands as used on many conventional guns might also be used by means of appropriate attachments. The sleeve 18 is provided with a J-slot 23 and the rod 10 is provided with a boss or pin 24 just back of the bracket 16. The operation of the above-described device is as follows:

When it is desired to load the gun an arrow 12 is placed in position as shown in FIGURE 1 and latched therein by the conventional latching mechanism contained in the release or trigger mechanism 11. The sleeve 18 is drawn along the rod 10 until its strikes a handle 15. This, of course, permits the yoke 22 to closely approach any of the notches 13 or 14 in which the yoke may be engaged with a minimum of physical exertion. With the gun thus partially loaded the user can either proceed to fully load the same by sitting down and engaging the cross-bar 19 with the feet to press the sleeve 18 forward Where the J-slot 23 can engage the pin 24 by slightly rocking the cross-bar to latch the same in loaded position. Various other types of common latching devices may be utilized instead. However, in practice it has been found that it is best to enter the water with the gun partially loaded and the engaging of the cross-bar 19 can very easily be done by the user with the feet while floating and the gun therefore fully loaded only after the user has entered the water.

It, of course, goes without saying that the ordinary person pushing with two feet against the cross-bar 19 is able to exert very easily a much greater amount of force than he could by pulling with his hands on yoke 22 with a fixed cross-bar 19. It will thus be apparent that by a simple rearrangement of the cross-bar and its mounting means the spear gun is made useful in fully loaded condition to persons who would not have the strength to fully load the conventional guns and it makes possible the use of stronger than usual rubber bands to give a gun of superior performance.

While there has ben described what is at present considered the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and alterations may be made therein without departing from the essence of the invent-ion and it is intended to cover herein all such changes and alterations as come within the true spirit and scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. In a spear gun of the type having guide means for an arrow having a plurality of notches therein, a trigger release means for the arrow and resilient means for engagement in one of said notches and a longitudinally extending rod carrying a forward handle, the improvement comprising: a sleeve slidably mounted on said rod; a cross-bar carried by said sleeve, said cross-bar carrying said resilient means and means for releasably locking said sleeve in position adjacent the forward end of said rod.

2. In a spear gun of the type having guide means for an arrow having a plurality of notches therein, a trigger release means for the arrow and resilient means for engagement in one of said notches and a longitudinally extending rod carrying a forward handle, the improvement comprising: a sleeve slidably mounted on said rod; a cross-bar carried by said sleeve, said cross-bar carrying said resilient means and means for releasably locking said sleeve in position adjacent the forward end of said rod, said sleeve being slidable on said rod from a position wherein it engages said forward handle to said position adjacent the forward end of said rod.

3. A spear gun as set forth in claim 1 in which said means for releasably locking said sleeve comprises a pin carried by said rod adjacent its forward end and a J-slot formed in said sleeve adapted to engage said pin.

4. A spear gun as set forth in claim 2 in which said means for releasably locking said sleeve comprises a pin carried by said rod adjacent its forward end and a J-slot formed in said sleeve adapted to engage said pin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

